


trading places

by furrybarista



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bisexuality, F/F, F/M, Kwami Swap, Multi, Reveal, Romantic Fluff, Sort Of, what a disaster, you'll see what i mean by that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 10:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19196866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furrybarista/pseuds/furrybarista
Summary: When Chat Noir's identity is compromised, he goes to the only person he knows can help- and this time, it's not Ladybug that he turns to.





	trading places

“Chat Noir?” Kagami gasped as she helplessly flailed in his arms. The blonde, masked cat was normally so charismatic, but today his tone was unusually off. His expression was serious and his green eyes were narrowed, focusing on the path straight ahead of him. She couldn’t help but try to wriggle out of his grasp- who was he, anyways, to hold a lady like that?- but her efforts were futile. 

“Quit fighting back,” he growled between pursed lips and clenched canine teeth, “I need you for something really important Kagami, and right away.” 

The dark haired girl blinked at the mention of her name and kept quiet as he ran, becoming still under his grasp. She was very close to his face, her head in the crook of his neck for stabilizing herself at the speed they were going. He felt familiar in a way that she couldn’t place. After what felt like an eternity in his arms, he perched on a balcony, high above the other buildings. It was dusk, and the sun was setting. His eyes glimmered as he eyed her up. She dusted herself off and placed a hand on her hip.

“Now what was that all about,” she scoffed, combing through her hair with her other hand. “I don’t normally hang out on rooftops, “kitty”. You’d better make it quick. I have a schedule to stick to here.” 

Her grandmother’s image lingered in the back of her mind. Kagami tried not to think about that and pushed it away. She had to focus on the task at hand, after all. 

Chat Noir looked off to the side. Something about the cat said that something else was on his mind. Perhaps it was the way he sat on the rail, one leg draped over the other, claws wrapped round the ledge, or the way he stared at the ground below in silence. After a moment passed, he looked at her and tilted his head. 

“I have known you for a long time, Kagami,” he said, his words slow and full of thought. Kagami wrinkled her nose at him back. He looked like he tried to hide a smile, and with a hand he covered his mouth. His expression changed again, to what she could only describe as exhausted. He blinked, slowly, and brought his hand through his hair. 

“I trust you more than anything, almost as much as my lady,” he continued, sounding shaky. Kagami listened, but she couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “And that’s why I have to do this. My identity was compromised recently and regretfully, that makes me quite unsafe in the situation I’m in.”

He looked up at her again and she felt a cool wind brush over her face as their eyes met. He really was serious, his expression one of complete honesty. 

“Why should I trust you with-” she began, but before she could get her words out, he interrupted her. 

“I need you to do this for me,” he said, jumping off the side of the rail and walking up to her. She felt her face flush. 

“For you?” she asked incredulously, placing her finger on his masked nose to keep them at a distance. “Why would I do anything for you, strange cat? I live for me.” 

“I need you to do this for me. Please.”  
His hands were in hers now, raised up to his face. Surprisingly, they were warm, she thought. Was he nervous about this? 

“Please just close your eyes and faire ma confiance,” he said, sounding more desperate than ever. “Please. I will explain further when I put my ring on your finger.”

“What?” she asked, both eyes widening at the suggestion. First he had said he knew her for a long time and trusted her almost as much as his ladybug, and now this? 

“You damn idiot. I’m not ready for that kind of commitment-” she said, her voice shaking just a little bit. His eyebrows raised. “I just met you only a moment ago and I just got to college and I’m only just starting my life out and I have to keep a high GPA, or my-” 

Chat covered his face with both hands and breathed in.  
“Oh my god, Kagami,” he whispered, sounded exasperated. “Please just let me explain.”

 

With that, he removed the ring off his right hand. Before she could ask what the hell he was trying to do- because she definitely wanted to- she watched in silence as green light enveloped him. Right, yes. He told her to close his eyes, and she obeyed much to her own dislike. But the desperation in his voice and those eyes- could she say no to those eyes that trusted her completely?

“Please give me your hand,” the voice of his said. She reluctantly placed it in his and let the cool metal of his ring slide over her finger. It was snug, surprisingly- she thought it would have been the wrong size, but it fit perfectly. Whether that was magic or not, she didn’t know. Magic, she thought. She let herself think it, and contemplate it for a moment in time. Her world got a little bit bigger, crumbling under the earthquake of the ring’s power handed to her.

“Now,” he said, intending to direct her. She frowned at the idea of taking more orders, but bit her tongue. “I want you to promise me that you won’t freak out.”

She repeated his sentence in her mind. Promise me that you won’t freak out. Every part of her scanned this for familiarity, a hint of the ordinary within the extraordinary. The phrase was hauntingly familiar. Who was trying to tell her to consistently stop freaking out? Nothing was connecting. She felt herself getting steadily hotter where she stood, her face burning with red. 

Suddenly she felt his hands on her shoulders, pulling her out of her thoughts. Kagami kept her eyes closed. For how much longer was she supposed to do this?

“I want you to promise me,” he repeated. 

 

Oh, that’s right, she remembered. She placed her own hands under his wrists. Warm skin on skin. This was not Chat anymore, she reminded herself. Bracing herself for whatever was about to happen. She let her mind settle like a ripple on water.

“Okay,” she agreed. “I promise I will not freak out.”  
“Open your eyes.”

She obliged, blinking her eyes open. It took a moment for her to register what exactly stood in front of her, two bold hands on her shoulders, and eyes of green. In a way, something hadn’t changed about him, but then it clicked. Her mind was instantly flooded with memories, of him in a fencing uniform, in the locker room at school, in the hallway, in the classroom two rows down. Her eyes widened and she was about to yell at him for keeping this from her- that was her first thought and her second, why was she here? But he saw it coming, and made sure to place his hand on her mouth. Normally, something stupid like that wouldn’t have stopped her, but she fell silent instead of letting his name leave her throat.

Adrien, she wanted to say. 

“You don’t have to say anything,” he answered, almost like he’d read her thoughts. “Please just say claws out, so we can figure this out together before I have to go home and fix all of this.” 

“Claws out,” she echoed. It was more of a question than a statement, and with a jolt she felt herself enveloped in electricity from head to toe, glowing in green. 

“What exactly- ADRIEN!” she yelled, feeling distant within whatever was happening. Without even trying, she felt herself move mechanically. It was like ballet from when she was a kid, in a weird way. Like dancing. She felt lighter than air for a moment, and it was instantly over. She looked at her hands, shrouded in shiny black, fingertips ending in claws. 

“Oh my god,” she let the words escape her mouth, surveying the rest of her body. She reached up with a claw at the bell beneath her neck. “Chat-” 

She stopped herself before finishing that sentence. “Adrien,” she said in surprise. She felt at a loss for words. What was she supposed to say? 

“What am I supposed to do?”

It had been a few days since she was entrusted with the miraculous. In that time, she had kind of figured it out. Kagami was easy to train and in Adrien’s teachings, she learned very quick. It was strange having him teach her the ropes instead of the other way around. Normally, it was by the baton. Quick hints on how to use that baton to get around, where stuff was in Paris she wouldn’t have even considered. 

Ladybug was puzzled by her appearance the first time they met, and she was even aggressive about it. Behind the same rooftop where he entrusted her hand with that ring, Ladybug had it pinned to the wall, demanding she tell her where her chaton had gone. Kagami just met her gaze and said nothing. In two weeks, Ladybug’s hands became looser when they worked together as a team, and her blue eyes although mildly distrusting, were honest when she said she was okay with it. Kagami had earned her mild affection under the name Noire. Sometimes, on good days, chaton. On bad days, which were far from often but often enough it was a different experience for Ladybug’s perspective, she was nothing. 

One evening after they were done for the day, Ladybug grabbed her by the wrist before she had the chance to run off to detransform. Kagami turned her head back toward her, bobbed hair wisps fluttering in the breeze. She felt a warm blush race to her cheeks under her grip. Since when had Ladybug been so intimidatingly pretty? 

“I just wanna know if he’s okay,” Ladybug pleaded, her blue eyes shimmering with an emotion that Kagami could not place. Kagami reached up for her bell, a habit she’d picked up when she was nervous. It reminded her of her intention borrowing his miraculous. 

She smiled, something rare for her. Ladybug herself even looked surprised when she did. Normally, Kagami smiled quickly, curtly, out of politeness, but it was genuine. The care for her partner was sweet, above all. Ladybug was always looking out for her friends, even those she hadn’t known for a long time, like Kagami herself. She couldn’t imagine what kind of wild privilege Chat had as her long time partner. 

“He’s okay,” she reassured her. Ladybug didn’t look so sure - Kagami decided in a whim what to do to fix that. In one swift movement, she wrapped one arm around the spotted gal’s back and the other around her waist in an embrace. She felt her relax under her touch, and Ladybug sighed, returning the embrace. 

“I worry about him,” the spotted heroine confessed exasperatedly, pulling back from Kagami. Her face felt like it was on fire. She tried to ignore it. “He’s told me lots about his home life. I wish I could be there for him more than just as Ladybug. I wish we had more than what we do, but it’s for the best.”

She looked down at Kagami and stepped back, realizing how close they were. Kagami hid her mild disappointment. Ladybug looked at her a little longer and brushed a lock of dark hair behind Kagami’s ear. Kagami felt sweaty.

“Your eyes are a little different than his,” she commented. “I’m not used to seeing a shade of honey look back at me instead of his green ones. Nice change for once, if I’m being honest.” Her lips turned up at one side of her mouth in a lopsided smile. “You make a good partner too, Noire.” 

The next week, Noire found herself sat next to Ladybug directly across from the Eiffel Tower. She found herself exhausted from this akuma in particular. She mentally congratulated Adrien on somehow balancing this as well as everything else he did in his wild life. She could hardly fit this in among everything else and it was weighing on her daily. 

“I’ll take it back in a few weeks,” he had said from his window as she remained perched outside. His eyes were unbreaking contact with hers. Just utter, complete trust. She thought then what an idiot he would have been if it was anyone else. But Kagami did not break promises, especially not to Adrien. His hand had extended to her while she was in the dark and alone, shrouded by her family. She could not say no to him. 

“Are you positive about this whole keeping your identity apart thing?” Noire asked quizzically, reaching for her bell again. She tilted her head at Ladybug, who sat just apart from her, legs crossed, her head set upon her open palm. 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Ladybug replied. She sat up on her hands and leaned back, staring up at the tower ahead of them and allowed a resigned sigh to escape her lips. Noire looked at her. Sometimes she felt like she was staring for long moments at the other heroine. It was really no wonder that Adrien loved her so dearly, she thought to herself in the silence between them. 

“Claws in,” she said anyways with a wave of her hand. Ladybug jolted upright in surprise and instantly hid her face with her hands. 

“Come on!” she said, placing both her hands on top of Ladybug’s as she held them firm to her eyes. Ladybug frowned under her mask. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Kagami insisted. “After all it’s not like I’m Chat’s permanent replacement. I think he’d be cool with you knowing.”

Ladybug shrunk even more into herself, her knees up against her chest and shoulders raised. Kagami rolled her eyes. She knew it was against Ladybug’s morals, but she wasn’t even a permanent heroine. It didn’t matter in her eyes at all. 

“Fine,” Ladybug said reluctantly, eyes still closed as she removed her hands one by one. “But only because you told me that he’d want me to see. I don’t know why it would matter though-”

“Just open your eyes,” Kagami said with emphasis. “I’d like you to know who you’ve been befriending all this time! Really, I do! I’m a very private person, but I trust you entirely, Ladybug.”

Ladybug made a face at that.  
“I don’t know why everyone says that to me,” she muttered.

“Because you are the Miraculous Ladybug,” Kagami said assuredly, standing upright and placing both hands on her hips. “Now take a look at your partner. This is the last time you’ll see me too. I go home tomorrow, and I said I’d give-”

She stopped herself before she said it out loud. 

“I said I’d give the real Chat his ring back now that his identity is safe again. Which by the way,” she added, “He probably did all this for you. I don’t know if he cares about his identity as much as he lets on, at least to the public. I think he just likes playing the part of Chat.” 

Ladybug blinked open her eyes. Recognition flooded them instantly. Kagami stared back in her standard attire and smiled, feeling genuine about it again like she had a few weeks ago.

“Wow I-” Ladybug said, sounding lost for words. “You’re not very much like I thought.”

She stood up. Kagami extended a hand.  
“It was nice to work with you, Ladybug,” she said. With a sudden movement, she pulled the other heroine to her and brought her closer to her with the other hand. Ladybug didn’t reply, but a little blush formed on her face as the other girl held her close, and she returned the embrace.

Kagami held on for a moment longer than she thought she should have, but pulled back nonetheless from the other girl. She took a long moment to remember Ladybug’s face at this time. And with one fluid gesture, she planted a kiss on her cheek and slipped the ring into Ladybug’s free palm. 

“Take care of Adrien, alright?”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! I got randomly inspired to write this and since Kagami is such a neglected character on my behalf, I wanted to explore what her personality could be like if we got to know her a little better.
> 
> edit june 13: CHECK THIS OUT this really cool fanart that an artist on tumblr did for me of my version of noire!!  
> https://bugaboosandbees.tumblr.com/post/185573928601/so-this-morning-i-read-furrybarista-s-wonderful


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